First-generation shepherdess Naomi Williams-Roberts is keen to show farming can be for everyone and that you do not have to own land to be a farmer.
She said: “If you’ve got a good attitude, there is a place in farming for you. So I think regardless of whether you’re from farming or not, there is a job for you.”
She runs a rented 120-acre predominately livestock farm in the South Wales village of Llangybi where she lives with her husband Josh and their four-year-old daughter.
The young parents have two jobs so they can sustain their part-time operation near the town of Usk, with Naomi, 30, working as a marketing and breed development manager for the Hereford Cattle Society and Josh, 29, as an agricultural builder.
But they dream of one day becoming full-time farmers.
A first-generation shepherdess is out to show that farming can be for everyone and that you do
Animal-lover Naomi is not your stereotypical farmer and her passion for horses, in particular, was her main gateway into the profession.
She explained there were barriers to her entering some companies in the agricultural industry, to begin with, because she had to “fight against those that are established businesses with an already established income”.
But she added: “I have been lucky to have opportunities from other open-minded farmers who do not care where you come from or your qualifications as long as you are willing to learn they will help you grow.
“So it’s not all big farmers who want to push you on.
“Some are very supportive and will help you on your way.”
While Naomi highlighted she faced some “snobbishness” and “elitism” in attempting to join some agricultural companies, she said on the farm itself: “Anyone can be a farmer if they have the right attitude.”
Working on rented land comes with its challenges, she admitted, adding it could make it “tricky to be able to forecast or business plan” without owning the area.
Naomi, who is an NFU Student and Young Farmer Ambassador 2024, said her goal was to get to a place where either she or her husband did not have to work a second job and the farm could be their main source of income.
But she is “surrounded by big dairy farms with much deeper pockets” who can undercut them in the fight for land.
To improve efficiency, Naomi and Josh have diversified and now have a “pumpkin patch” and sunflower field business named “Billy Bob’s Farm” which involves activities for children and selling seasonal vegetables.
Naomi said: “Schoolchildren from the nearby city of Newport come and run around in an open field, which is a completely different experience for them.
“They saw the turkeys and thought they were something from Jurassic Park!”
Naomi pointed to positive changes in the industry with practical-based education and apprenticeships in professions like auctioneering.
She said: “I’m hoping that starts to ripple through the industry.”
She said she was “really lucky to have a good landlord” but that she would “have to win the lottery” to own a farm in her own right: “At first it can seem overwhelming. But find what you love and go for it.”
